WiseAcre Gardens

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Sympetrum striolatum

I guess I still have Santa on my mind. I couldn’t help but think of MR & MRS Clause when I found these photos.

The male gets to wear a nice red suit while the female is wearing a drab yellow - brown color.

And to keep in the spirit of GTS and Christmas (past) I found a flower that reminded me of a Elf’s hat. You have to bend your imagination out of shape but if you concentrate on the white fuzzy tip it may help.

The Dragonfly photos are linked to a larger size (1024 x 768) for a closer look. They also make a decent desktop background

Cantharellula umbonata - Cantharellus umbonata

Small gray or brown-gray cap with forked gills descending down stalk. Stem is off white. Cap flesh is white bruising reddish. Gills are white- gray and bruise yellow - red.

Cap is  convex to flat, sunken in the center and usually has a distinct knob.

Often found growing in Hair Cap Moss - Polytrichium commune.

EDIBLE: considered good

Thanks to Santa’s Little Helpers (my daughters) who brought me 2 new mushroom field guides I was able to identify another mystery mushroom. While one of my old ones did have it listed I wasn’t able to put it all together until I found this shroom in my new National Audbon Society - Field Guide to Mushrooms.  With 4 field quides now I just might be able to sort out a few more. I usually don’t “identify’ anything unless I can ‘cross reference’ them in more than one book. Of course there are exceptions - some things are too distinctive to mistake.

Images are linked to ones sized 1024 x 768 so you can get a closer look or to use as desktop wallpaper / background

If so send him here.

This little toothed fungi is driving me mad. So far I’ve spent a day looking for anything that slightly resembles this and found nothing. This was found on Sept. 19, 2008 growing from a bed of pine needles. The area was actually a mixed hardwood - conifer forest but this spot was mainly pine.

While going through my photos I ran across this specimen. I wish these were better images since it’s hard to tell what the edges are. Is it something else growing on the edge or is it an actual part of the mushroom?

The center has the look of a bracket - shelf fungus. It’s hard, smooth and leathery. Turn it over and it has ‘teeth’ unlike shelf and bracket fungi.

My best guess right now is that this is a member of the Genus Phellodon. But I haven’t ruled out Hydnum and Hydnellum. Without more information I’m stuck scratching my head.

The closest thing I found in appearance is Zoned Cork Hydnum - Phellodon tomentosus, followed by Dusky Cork Hydnum - Phellodon niger but neither really match up to what I have seen.

So for now this is going to remain a mystery mushroom and I’m afraid it’s going to stay that way unless someone who knows more than I can give me a clue. (that’s a long list - most if not all readers qualify) Until then I’m going to call it - Paininthious backsideus. Feel free to call it what you like.

Oh, and it must have some toxic properties since just looking at it for a long period of time gave me a headache.

Images are linked to larger sizes (1024 x 768) for a closer look. They aren’t the best pics to use as a background but no one will stop you from putting one on your desktop if you want.